Germany home base help - Mainz?, Rothenburg worth it?

we are considering Rothenburg but it seems remote from our itinerary. Should we change our home base for the western side?

Rothenburg is worth half a day and you can easily see it on your way from the Rhine area to Munich.

Great! So you mean we could hop off the train in Rothenburg, explore and hop back on? Will it be the same train we would be taking anyway? I didn't even think about that. Thanks!

Rothenburg is not a handy stop going from Mainz or Heidelberg (?) to Munich. It is on a small trunk line that is reached by taking a slow train (RB = Regionalbahn) from Würzburg. You eventually must get back on that slow train heading south. From Mainz to Munich I would want to catch an express train from Frankfurt. Trains:

https://reiseauskunft.bahn.de//bin/query.exe/en

We like to spend 2 days in Rothenburg as it is where we like to take a day walk into the country. It means fitting it into a leisurely itinerary. That does not seem to fit your plans.

Even if this is a lifetime trip, trying to see too much might mean experiencing too little.

Thank you! I was wondering if trying to fit it in would be too much. We will stay with the original plan. For the Rhine/Mosel river cruise/bike ride and seeing Heidelburg, do you think Mainz is a good location to base out of? Should we day trip into Frankfurt old town?

There's not much "old town" left in Frankfurt. Not really worth stopping off for a day unless you are interested in a specific museum there, or like alcoholic cider (it's one of Europe's few cider towns).

Certainly don't base yourself in Rothenburg, it's not that well placed in terms of transport. You can see old-fashioned villages near the Rhine or Mosel without having to make a special trip there.

Thank you Phillip! Do you thing Mainz is a good place or should we stay in Boppard? I just thought it might be hard to schedule the Heidelburg trip from there without a car?

Sorry, I haven't been to Mainz or Boppard. Boppard to Heidelburg is the best part of two hours by train, because neither have particularly high-speed services. Rothenburg to Heidelburg would be even worse.

Your basic problem is that places which are not big cities don't have fast trains between them.

Mainz is a bit over an hour from Heidelberg by train and handy to the better parts of the Rhine River. It also has a decent selection of hotels and restaurants. I think it makes a good base for your wants. It is a short hop from Frankfurt, where you can catch ICE trains for Munich.

Thank you Gary Mc!

- cruise the Rhine or Mosel river for a short trip
- spend a day in/near Heidelburg
- hike or bike somewhere?
- maybe a day trip into Frankfurt to the old town if it's worth it for a once in a lifetime trip to Germany?

Mainz is a nice place - but if you are coming from Belgium and want some hiking/biking/cruising, old-world villages - and some genuine medieval castles - there's no better place than the Middle Rhine Valley to the north of Mainz and just south of Koblenz. Boppard is a good Rhine base for train travelers, especially if you want Mosel River options (like Cochem or Burg Eltz.) St. Goar might be a slightly better base if you won't be going to the Mosel (there's a very handy ferry crossing in St. Goar for train users.)

Both Boppard and St. Goar are good places to end a river cruise (which ideally begins in Bingen if you want to cruise the best scenery.) With a base in one or the other, you can easily reach Bingen by train to start your cruise, and you can easily visit the other two old-world towns of interest here, Bacharach and Oberwesel (just a few minutes south of St. Goar on the same train line.) St. Goar is home to Rheinfels Castle, and you can reach Marksburg Castle (in Braubach) from either Boppard or St. Goar.

Hiking south from St. Goar to Oberwesel on the Rhine Castle trail is a real joy:
https://www.romantic-germany.info/things-to-do/hiking/long-distance-hiking-trails/rheinburgenweg-trail/

The thing about the Rhine/Mosel is it's spread out, and cruising, hiking and biking requires a little time if you also want to snoop around some fine old-world towns. You can't really do it all on just a day trip from Mainz.

You have 4 nights... I would probably book 3 nights in Boppard or St. Goar - then get an early start on Day 4 and do your sightseeing in Mainz. Leave your bags at the station that morning - then fetch them in the afternoon and take a pm train to Heidelberg for the night. The following day, visit Heidelberg prior to catching your train to Munich. You can leave H'berg around 16:00 and still make it to Munich for dinner. The 16:03 leaves Heidelberg for Mannheim where you have your only change of train - you reach Munich at 17:28. These are just suggestions that look good to me - there are plenty of other train options throughout the day.

Thanks Russ! That's awesome information! Any favorite places to stay in Boppard?

I've stayed at the Sonnenhof and the Hotel Hubertus, both in the old town, both budget options with clean rooms and very good breakfast spreads. Take ear plugs for the church bells near the Hubertus. There are several other popular options in town that might suit you better - some with waterfront views... hard to say since I'm not sure what you're looking for. Check the reviews and be careful about location - you don't want to end up in a distant suburb somewhere just because it has a Boppard address.

Sounds perfect!

We only spent an afternoon in Boppard. It was enough for us. Both St. Goar (Hotel am Markt) and Bacharach (Hotel Malerwinkel) had more charm. And, I still think Mainz a decent choice as there is more in town to see including the Cathedral, the Chagall windows in St. Stephans and the rest of the old town.

Thanks Gary Mc!